CONSTRUCTION OF A CLINICAL IMPLANT PERFORMANCE SCALE FOR IMPLANT SYSTEMS WITH OVERDENTURES WITH THE DELPHI METHOD

Statement of problem. The success of an implant system is often judged on the survival rate of the separate implants. This does not give a c omplete view of the ''real'' success of a system. To make that possibl e the total clinical performance, surgical and prosthetic, has to be c onsidered. Purpose. This study aimed to set up a clinical performance scale for different implant systems retaining mandibular overdentures. Material and Methods. All data regarding surgical and prosthetic comp lications incurred and treatment procedures needed after implant place ment were collected from a group of 90 patients who were treated eithe r with two root form implants connected with a bar and supporting a ma ndibular overdenture or with a transmandibular implant system that sup ported an overdenture. ALL items were scored into five categories on t he scale, defined as the ''clinical implant performance'' scale. The D elphi method was applied to categorize each item. A panel of experts a ssessed the items. Results. After three rounds there was complete cons ensus between the experts for 65% of the items for the root form impla nt systems, and for 87% of the items at least five out of six experts gave the same score. For 55% of the items for the transmandibular impl ants systems there was complete consensus, and for 85% of the items at least five out of six experts scored in the same way. Conclusions. Th e Delphi method provides a useful scale for evaluating the clinical pe rformance of implant systems retaining mandibular overdentures. The pr esented scale makes it possible to compare the overall performance of different implant systems for overdentures.